A couple who locked their 7-year-old son in his room with a bucket for a toilet while they watched Packers games at the local casino were sentenced to less than a year in jail last week. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner called the couple's actions "abhorrent" and ordered them to undergo psychological screening.
Melanie Hardrath, 30, and her 39-year-old boyfriend, Scott Scherer, admitted locking Hardrath's son in his room with a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly, and a bucket that he would have to clean if he was forced to use it as a toiler while they were gone. They had enough money to hire a baby sitter, said Assistant District Attorney Chris Liege, who showed the judge photographs of the couple's extensive collection of Packers memorabilia.
Judge Wagner scolded Hardrath and Scherer, a former youth counselor, for not thinking about what would happen if the boy got sick or the house caught fire while they were at the casino. He sentenced Hardrath to seven months in a county jail and Scherer to nine months. Both will serve four years of probation, with a stayed sentence of two years in prison and more extended supervision.
The couple's defense attorney was at a loss for explaining their behavior. "What do you do?" he asked the judge in court. "Maybe this coming football season, lock them in a room with a bucket and make them watch Bears games."
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